Of Love and Intelligence
by blitzstxne
Summary: Life is hard, and love is even harder. For Piper McLean, the latter is especially true. Between her ex living in her apartment building (not to mention attending her university), her lesbian enemies, and her crush on a straight girl, it seems both life and love is going to get a whole lot worse . . . and more interesting.
1. Coffee and Spiders

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus characters. Credit goes to Rick Riordan for that. However, I do own this story, so credit goes to me for that.**  
**Warnings: Mild cursing, GirlxGirl, Suggestive Themes.**

* * *

Piper set the last box down with a sigh of relief, wiping sweat from her forehead. She groaned as she stretched, wincing slightly at the popping of her back. She placed her hands on her hips and looked around, a grin stretching across her face.

"This place is going to be amazing when I'm through with it; it'll look like an actual apartment," she mused to herself.

The brunette picked up a cage with her pet in it. No, it wasn't a dog, cat, or even a hamster. It was a spider. She'd always been fascinated by them, and she'd had that one, whom she named Arachne, for quite a while. Next month would be a year.

She carried it and walked down the small hall, pushing open the door to a room -her room now- where some boxes already were. She set the cage down on her -she would never get used to that- dresser, bending down with a light smile.

"This is our new home now. I promise you'll love it, as I'm sure I will." Lie. She wasn't sure if she'd ever think of it as her home, much less love it.

She was only 20 years of age, with a few months left to go until she was drinking age and a month before her very first year at Goode University would start. Yes, she had lived with her father up until this very moment. The main reason being because, even though her father had plenty of money to buy Piper her own apartment or even a house, she wanted to save up money herself. Plus she wanted to spend just a couple more years with her father before leaving. She was, after all, moving across the country. All the way from California to Long Island.

Straightening up, Piper exited her room and went to the living room, deciding to work on that first. Her room wasn't her main priority as no one would see it- at least she assumed no one would see it for a while.

She picked up a box and began unpacking, not much joy in her. There were too many boxes and little time. It was only 2 in the afternoon, but there were more boxes than she expected. She shook her head as she heaved her T.V. out of a box and mounted it on the wall, straining slightly. It took her about five minutes as it wasn't exactly a small T.V. making her slightly irritated already.

Piper stood back and examined her work for a moment, making sure it was secure on the wall. When she was satisfied with the results, she walked away and continued her unpacking.

* * *

Piper flopped down on her bed, not exactly satisfied with her work. She was only about halfway done with unpacking, and there she was just a few days ago thinking since she got an apartment it wouldn't be a big deal to put everything together. She shook her head at her oblivious past self.

Begrudgingly getting up, she walked to her bathroom. Ah, another thing she had to decorate. She started the shower and stripped, not before testing to make sure the water was scalding hot, the perfect temperature.

She tugged the hair bow out of her braid and then ran her fingers through it, the braid falling apart. It was slightly wavy from the braid it was in, different from her naturally straight hair.

She stepped in the tub, turning to face the faucet the water was coming out of. She moaned in pleasure at the hot water, feeling it cascading down her body, it taking some tension out of her bones. After just standing there enjoying the hot water, she finally began washing herself as the water began cooling down quite quickly.

* * *

Piper woke feeling refreshed, but also groggy. The shower had helped with the tension, making her feel refreshed, but the sleep was still in her eyes, making her feel groggy.

She quickly jumped out of bed, the grogginess immediately leaving her body; a smile made its way to her face- that trick always worked.

She searched through her suitcase, as she had yet to unpack it still, and threw on whatever she saw. Which just so happened to be a red, plaid and sleeveless shirt, capris that stopped at the knees, a jean jacket, and hiking boots. Little braids hung from either side of her head, slightly messy. A feather intertwined with the braid on the right.

A yawn escaped her mouth as she laced up her boots, and she didn't bother to stifle it. She stood, exited her room, the apartment, and finally the building. She was going to a nearby cafe, seeing as she couldn't really cook. Plus, she just wanted a quick breakfast. It was only Saturday, so she didn't need to be anywhere, but she always preferred quick breakfasts over long ones.

The walk to the nearest cafe wasn't too far. And even better, it was said to be one of the best cafe's in town. She entered, a little bell ringing like it always does to signify when someone enters or leaves.

"Good morning," A blonde, slightly pudgy girl greeted her from behind the counter. Her nametag read "Emily". Piper nodded at her with a small smile, going up to the counter.

"What would you like, ma'am?" Emily asked with a polite smile, a notepad in hand.

"Can I get a Café Miel? To go?" She asked, as Emily grinned and nodded.

"Not many ask for that, although it's one of the best ones on the menu. You'll love it, trust me."

Piper waited, sitting on one of the rotating chairs in front of the counter. She glanced around the cafe, smiling as she saw couples sitting together, a few people on their laptops, and one person was even reading a book while sipping on what looked like hot chocolate. Classic.

She turned as not five minutes later Emily returned with her drink in a styrofoam cup. "Enjoy," she said as Piper smiled a thank-you-and-have-a-nice-day kind of smile, exiting the cafe.

Although it was only 8 in the morning, it was bright and sunny, with a slight stupor to it. She sipped her drink, sighing at how it filled her with warmth- literally. She walked back to her apartment building, nodding at the doorman. She stopped at her apartment, fishing about in her jacket pocket for her keys. Finally finding them, she opened the door and shut it again as she walked back in. She threw her keys on the coffee table in the small living room and walked to the window which was currently curtain-less. She stared out the window, surprised at how a town like hers could be so beautiful.

Just as she brought the cup back to her lips, she heard a scream. Piper looked up- the scream sounded feminine but you could never be too sure. She walked out of her apartment and followed the source of the noise, a couple of other people poking their heads out of their respective rooms.

She rolled her eyes at them. They couldn't even be bothered to do more than just stick their head out the door.  
She finally found the room the screaming was coming from, which was just a few doors down. She entered, surprised at how it was unlocked, and saw a young blonde girl around her age standing on a chair, looking down at something on the ground. Piper, with a slight frown, walked towards her and suddenly laughed.

The girl's head flew up and a glare was present on her face. Then she took a deep, shaky breath and climbed down from the chair slowly but still stood as far back from the spider as she could.

Piper pressed her lips together to stop the laughs and bent down, the spider crawling in her hand. When she stood back up and looked at the blonde, she noticed the blonde was holding herself very stiffly.

"Why did you pick that thing up instead of killing it?" The blonde questioned.

"Why would I want to kill Arachne?

The blonde looked taken aback at the answer. "Arachne? Did you just say Arachne? Is it a pet or something?" Her eyes flickered to the spider, distaste present on her face. Her lips were pursed and her jaw was tensed while her hands were balled up in fists.

"Yeah, she is my pet spider. I got her a few months ago, actually," Piper said as she stroked the spider's back. "I dunno how she got out though."

Taking another deep breath, the blonde said, "And you are?"

Piper looked up from the spider and held the hand that wasn't holding Arachne out. "Piper McLean."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so I don't think there is a date set for Piper's birthday (I've researched it) and even so, I have a headcanon for her birthday. I feel it would be around November or December, haven't decided on a set day or month yet. I hope you guys enjoyed, please review, favorite, and follow.**


	2. Meeting (Nearly) Everyone

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus characters. Credit goes to Rick Riordan for that. However, I do own this story, so credit goes to me for that.**

**Warnings: Mild cursing, GirlxGirl, Suggestive Themes.**

* * *

The blonde looked down at Piper's hand, her eyebrows still furrowed together in a frown. "You have a cup in your hand."

Piper also glanced down at her hand, her face heating up. "Oh, right . . . " She said and looked around, searching for a place to set her drink down. She spotted a table and set it there, walking back to the other girl and held her hand out once more. The blonde hesitantly took it, shaking it, before quickly pulling it back.

"So, you're interested in Greek Mythology?" At the confused look on Piper's face, the girl explained, "Your spider's name is Arachne, like the woman who beat Athena in a weaving contest and was turned into a spider, _the_ spider?"

"Yeah, sorry. The question came out of nowhere so I was a bit surprised but um, yeah, she's named after that woman-spider-thing. And yes, I like Greek Mythology." In a way, but she didn't say that aloud. The only reason she knew most stuff about Greek Mythology was because of her father, who once had to do a movie pertaining to it. Sure, she read sometimes. But most of her knowledge of Greek Mythology came from that research her and her father did together.

The girl finally smiled, the first smile Piper had seen from her. "I'm Annabeth. Annabeth Chase. I quite like Greek Mythology, too. My favorite myths are the ones with Athena." Annabeth walked over to her sofa and sat, inviting Piper to sit as well. "If Greek gods, goddesses, and demigods were real, I think I'd be a daughter of Athena. What about you? I mean, who do you think would be your godly parent?"

Piper thought for a moment, before saying, "I'm . . . really not sure. I think it'd be nice to be Athena's daughter, though. And if it were my mom that was the only parent I've ever known . . . Poseidon could be my father, or Hermes." Her reasoning for Poseidon was because she felt more rejuvenated around water, and she had even gotten the hang of surfboarding, though she used to suck at it when she was fifteen. She believed she could be Hermes' daughter because he was the god of trickery, and she was good at getting people to believe her, or give her what she wanted. Basically she was good at manipulating. "Heck, maybe even Hecate," she said after coming to the conclusion that she was good at manipulating.

"I don't mean to be intruding or anything but you never knew your mom?" At Piper's silence, Annabeth said quickly, "I never knew my mom either. My whole life I lived with my father and stepmom. I mean, I ran away when I was seven . . . but of course I was found and brought back. I lived with them until I was eighteen, when I went away for college."

At that, Piper glanced up. "College? Do you go to a junior one or a university?"

"University. I'm currently enrolled at Goode University. This year will be my fourth."

"So you're twenty-two?" Piper asked, completely not registering that Annabeth said she went to Goode University, same as her.

"Yes. What about you? Do you go to a college or university?"

"Yeah, I go to Goode University." She was silent for a split second as her thoughts pieced together and she registered Annabeth's comment. "Too. I go to Goode University too. Or will be, this August."

Annabeth smiled. "Well I can't wait to see you there. What are you going in for?"

"The arts. Specifically theatrics. I'm not a very good dancer but I suppose I can sing and act well enough." She shrugged. "It's all I ever really wanted to do, although my dad once suggested I should become a saleswoman." That was one career she definitely turned down. She nearly turned down the thought of becoming an actress -as she just wanted to be a normal girl with a simple life and she knew becoming an actress would make her life anything but that, she knew as she had lived it second-hand, thanks to her father's success in becoming an actor- but decided it was really the only thing she was good at. Or, at the very least, the only thing that really put her skills to use. "What are you in for?"

"I'm majoring in becoming an architect. Since this is my fourth year I only have two left and then I'm out. Of course, I probably won't get many jobs seeing as how sexism is a thing. Or I won't get many jobs in the beginning because no one has ever seen my work before."

"Hmm." Piper was a bit surprised but she could see Annabeth being an architect. The girl practically radiated intelligence, she could do really whatever she wanted. Be whatever she wanted. Then Piper stood. "Well, I'd better be getting back to my apartment. I have to unpack."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't realize you had just moved in. I figured you were a recluse and that's why I never saw you before today." Annabeth admitted as she stood as well. "Would you like any help?"

"Yeah, I would actually, thanks for offering." Exchanging smiles, they both exited Annabeth's apartment and walked down to Piper's.

"Just a suggestion: you might wanna lock that spider back up," Annabeth said as they entered Piper's apartment. Piper face-palmed as she realized two things. One, her spider was still in her hand. Two, her apartment door was wide open. She'd forgotten to close it when she went to investigate the scream.

Piper shut the door and nodded as she walked to her room, Annabeth following behind. "Should probably do that," she muttered in agreement.

She entered her room and bent down by the cage, tearing the lid off and setting the spider gently back in. "I don't know how you got out last time, but stay in this time." Wow, she thought, she talked to herself way too much. Shaking her head, she stood back up and dusted her pants off.

"So," Annabeth said, "where do we start?"

* * *

Piper was surprised at how much Annabeth and her were alike. And how interesting she was. With Annabeth helping her, they got finished unpacking everything and it was one by the time they finished.

They both walked to the kitchen where she had a pack of water bottles. She took two out, giving one to the blonde, and drank heavily from hers.

"Do you have any roommates?" Piper asked as she set her drink down.

Annabeth nodded. "One. Her name's Reyna Ramirez. Well, her name is actually longer than that but she prefers people to know just her first and very last name. She actually just became my roommate. This is also her first year at Goode University. By the way, how old are you, again?"

"Twenty."

Annabeth nodded. "Reyna is too. Actually, a lot of my friends are. Only a couple are actually my age. The others are younger."

"Do they also go to Goode University?"

"Yes, all of them. You've got Percy Jackson, Thalia Grace, and Grover Underwood, who are my best friends. Both are the same age as me. Then Rachel Dare, Juniper Bush, Ella Sibylline, and Tyson Jackson, who are also the same age as me. Tyson is Percy's brother and Ella's boyfriend, Juniper is Grover's girlfriend, and Rachel is another close friend. Then there's Jason Grace, Leo Valdez, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, Nico di Angelo, and Will Solace. Jason is Thalia's younger brother, Leo is Jason's best friend, Hazel and Frank are together and are also friends with Jason and Leo, and Nico is dating Will." Annabeth took a deep breath before continuing. "Jason, Leo, and Frank are all twenty. Nico and Will is nineteen and Hazel is eighteen. This is also her first year at GU. It's slightly confusing but you'll get used to it once you meet them. I _do_ plan on you meeting them."

Piper listened intently, up until the name _Jason Grace_ came up. After that, she zoned completely out.

Jason and her used to date, back when she was fifteen. It lasted a few years, and she honestly thought they would get married. But that wasn't the case. Her and Jason had difficulties, different ones than most couples dealt with. It was basically the fact that Piper liked girls. Of course, she didn't like them one hundred percent. She did love Jason, but she also really liked girls. Before she really admitted this to herself, she broke up with Jason. She told him it was because she no longer felt feelings for him when in reality she was just confused about her own sexuality. Sometime later she decided she was bisexual but by then, her and Jason had stopped talking and she had no way of contacting him.

And even now, just hearing his name sent a pang through her heart. She swallowed heavily then looked back up at Annabeth and all she said was, "Oh."

Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows for a minute before relaxing her face and saying, "Would you like to meet them? They all live in this building, but they may not all be here at the moment."

Piper nodded. "Er, sure, yeah, I'd like to meet them."

* * *

As they walked, Annabeth talked to her about who was roommates with who.

"Leo is rooming with Hazel and Frank, which isn't exactly a good idea... I don't like to gossip but Leo's got a crush on Hazel and, as I said before, she's with Frank. Nico is rooming with Jason and Percy, Tyson with Will and Grover, Rachel with Thalia and Ella with Juniper. First stop is the love triangle." Annabeth knocked on a door that was decked out in little gems. "Hazel got to decorate the door," Annabeth explained.

The door opened and out stepped a skinny Latino boy who looked like he was one of Santa's workers. "Hey, Annabeth! Who's this?" He asked as he examined Piper.

Piper shifted uncomfortably; she'd never liked people staring at her.

"This is Piper. I'm taking her on a tour." Annabeth pushed her way through and into the apartment. "Is Hazel here?"  
Leo stepped back and let Piper in, shutting the door behind him.

"I'm here!" A voice called from what Piper assumed was the kitchen and she came out, coated in flour. "I was trying to make something." She stopped talking and glanced at Piper. "Who's this?"

"Hazel meet Piper. Piper meet Hazel. This is the one who decorated the door with gems. She's quite fond of them."  
Hazel nodded. "Sorry Leo had to answer the door. I would have but..." she looked down pointedly at her apron. Then, another person emerged from the kitchen, also covered in flour. Hazel grinned and tried to wipe the flour off his face but it only made it worse.

"And here is Frank. Or what is left of him. Now it's just flour."

Frank snorted and shook his head like a dog, clouds of flour going everywhere. "Very funny." He nodded his head at Piper. "I hear you're Piper? Nice to meet you."

Piper nodded back, folding her hands together in front of her and teetering on the heels of her feet. Annabeth looked back at her and shook her head. "Well I think you've all scared her already, so now she's going to meet the others, if she's not scared by them too," she said with raised, questioning eyebrows.

"Oh, I'm fine. Let's go meet the others."

Annabeth led her out, Piper waving to the other three.

"Next stop is Nico, Percy, and Jason."

* * *

Piper wrung her hands, nervous about seeing Jason again. She hadn't seen him since the break-up and to be frank, she didn't really want to. It had been a while since she'd seen him and her heart had healed. Sure, it hurt earlier, but that was just because of the memory, not because she still had feelings for him. Or at least, she told herself she didn't have feelings for him anymore.

"Hmm, Nico isn't here. I wonder-" Annabeth was cut off as she heard the voices of two boys. They seemed to be arguing.

Out stepped a blond and a brunette. The brunette looked like a skater boy while the blond looked like he was a member of the student council. They were arguing about who would beat who in a fight.

"Percy, Jason, really?" Annabeth exclaimed, capturing their attention. Their argument died down immediately. A big grin spread across Percy's face as he walked to Annabeth. Jason stood rooted in his spot. He was staring at Piper.

"Sorry," Percy apologized as he pecked Annabeth's lips. "Who do you think would win in a fight between me and him?"

"Him and me," Annabeth corrected before continuing. "And it doesn't matter. Boys, this is Piper. Piper, this is Percy and Jason. Jason is the blond, Percy is the liar."

Percy spluttered. "Liar? Wha-"

"Your apology wasn't real and we all know it, Seaweed Brain." Then Annabeth turned to Piper. "It's a long story," she said, referring to the nickname.

"Well, hello, Piper. Say, who do you think would win-"

"Percy!" Annabeth exclaimed again, shaking her head with an exasperated sigh. "Why do I even try?" Percy just grinned and kissed her again.

"You're looking good. How are you?" Jason said, still not moving from his spot.

"Erm, good, good. And you?"

"Fine."

The whole group was silent. Of course, Percy broke the silence.

"You two know each other?" He asked incredulously.

"Yeah, we were friends," Piper said before Jason had a chance to say anything. She directed her gaze at the couple instead of Jason. She could just feel his frown.

"Oh, that's cool," Percy nodded.

Annabeth stepped away from him, not before giving him one last kiss. "We're going to see Grover and Tyson now." She looked at Piper. "You would be seeing Will as well but if Nico's gone, then Will's gone." With that, she walked out of the apartment, Piper following. She didn't even bother waving goodbye to the boys.

* * *

Piper stood awkwardly in the living room, Annabeth trying to get the two boys up. They were sitting and watching television, boxes of pizza scattered around along with crunched up coke cans.

"We rarely get a day like this, seeing as Will always makes sure the apartment is clean. He says it's not "healthy" to leave pizza boxes lying around and watching T.V. all day," a boy with curly hair and a goatee, Grover, explained.

Tyson burped, his burp obviously an agreement. Annabeth scrunched up her nose in disgust, grabbing Piper's wrist once again. "Yeah, time to go see if Reyna is back. I'll introduce the other six to you later."

They exited the room and walked back to Annabeth's, which was several doors down. Annabeth opened her door, which was unlocked, and Piper could hear the faint noise of water running. Annabeth shut the door as they walked in. "Reyna's showering. She always showers after she gets back from her job."

Annabeth told Piper to make herself comfortable in the living room, which she tried to do. But she sat cautiously on the couch, and her muscles were tense. She only waited for a few moments before Annabeth walked out with a girl who was in only a towel. Piper's face heated up, but the other two didn't seem to be bothered. They must've been used to Reyna being half-naked around strangers.

"And here is Reyna. She's used to meeting strangers in only a towel." The girl called Reyna nodded grimly.

"Annabeth likes to get me out to meet new people, especially when I'm in the middle of a shower." She explained, a hint of a smile on her face.

Annabeth glanced at Piper, a grin on her face. "I think she's scarred forever." Reyna gave Annabeth a fake glare, who just smiled in return. The smile was somehow different from what she had seen Annabeth give before, but Piper didn't think too much of it.

"I _mean_ she's seen so many crazy things today. She met Leo, which was scarring enough, along with Hazel and Frank covered in flour. Then she met Jason and Percy, who were once again arguing over who would win against who in a fight. She didn't get to meet Nico, as he left with Will, or Ella, Rachel, Thalia, and Juniper. And then she met Tyson and Grover, who were wallowing in pizza and T.V."

Reyna just nodded. "Well now there's no escape." Piper hoped she was joking, but she didn't seem to be.

"Oh, this is also Piper's first year at Goode University."

Reyna nodded. "Well maybe for lunch Monday we can all meet up to eat somewhere, if our schedules allow us. But seeing as how we're in different years, we might have to eat out this weekend." She paused, thinking, and then nodded again. "Yes, I think we should go out this weekend. Maybe tomorrow? Unless you have church tomorrow . . ."

"Piper," Piper interjected. "And no, I don't have church. I don't um, I don't go to church."

"Well then we can all meet up tomorrow. Preferably at that cafe down the street?" At Piper's nod, she let out the faintest of smiles. "Then it's settled. I'll let the others know. Once I'm dressed, of course."

Piper also smiled. Her time at college was definitely going to be interesting.

* * *

**A/N: Woo, finally I'm working on getting rid of the plot holes. I realized I had a lot and so here I am rewriting this whole story. Hopefully this will be the only rewrite. Hopefully I'll actually be pleased with my work. And I hope you guys think this version is better than the original. So please review, favorite, and follow. Constructive criticism is welcome.**


	3. Fights and the Six

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus characters. Credit goes to Rick Riordan for that. However, I do own this story, so credit goes to me for that.**

**Warnings: Mild cursing, GirlxGirl, Suggestive Themes.**

* * *

"Maybe a babysitter? Wait- nevermind, you need experience. Or I could be one of those people in stores who try to sell theirs or someone else's products. I'm persuasive enough." Piper tapped her chin with the pen in her hand, thinking. She had some newspapers laid out on the coffee table. After her introduction to Reyna, and after Reyna had changed into clothing, Piper told Annabeth about how she wanted to get a job but didn't know where to look. So, Annabeth gave her some newspapers from the past couple of days to let Piper go through them and see if there were any jobs available that she might like. So there she was, sitting in Annabeth's apartment still with newspapers scattered across the table.

"Why don't you try something obvious, like a waitress, or a librarian?" Annabeth suggested, to which Piper nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah, and I think I saw an ad for a restaurant that was hiring." She flipped through another newspaper and stopped on a page, tapping her pen on an ad.

"Or you could be a stripper," Reyna said, making Annabeth laugh and Piper's face turn red.

"You're joking, right?" But Reyna seemed completely serious. Piper shook her head. "I might stick with waitress."

"Well, strippers do make more money then waitresses. But you could combine the two; you could work at Hooters."

Piper hit Reyna with the newspaper, her face even more red than before as both Annabeth and Reyna laughed at her. "_Waitress_. I refuse to be anything even close to a stripper, so no Hooters," she said as she shook her head again.

She grabbed a pair of scissors from the table and cut out the ad from the newspaper. She looked over it.

**CHECKERS NOW HIRING**

_Waiter/Waitress wanted._

_Must be 18 years or older._

_Must be experienced._

_If interested, please call 631-555-1727._

Piper shrugged as she glanced at the phone number. "I'm experienced enough, I guess. I've been a waitress a few times in my teen years." She picked up her phone and dialed the number, waiting patiently for someone to pick up.

_"This is Checkers."_

"Hello, my name is Piper McLean and I was calling to inquire if your waitress position is still open?" Piper was impressed at how formal she sounded without stuttering or saying "um" or "uh".

_"Yes, that position is open. We can send an application form through the mail, and after it's filled out, you can send it back to our address."_

After giving the lady behind the phone her address, the lady replied, _"Thank you. It will be sent within twenty-four hours. Have a nice day."_

Piper pressed the "end" button and shoved her phone back in her pocket. "Well, I guess it's settled for now. All I have to do is wait twenty-four hours for the application form."

"It's a pity you didn't choose the librarian position. I work as one for the local library." Annabeth stated, making Piper raise an eyebrow.

"Hmm. Well, I would feel more comfortable as a waitress, seeing as I've been one before. Also, I could use my persuasive skills much more as a waitress," Piper said with a shrug.

Annabeth nodded, then stood up as she heard voices in the halls. "I think Nico and Will are back, possibly with Thalia and Rachel." She opened the door and stood outside for a moment, conversing with the people outside the door. Then suddenly six people were pushed inside, Annabeth right behind them.

"Piper," she started as she shut the door and moved beside the six, "I would like you to meet Thalia Grace, Rachel Dare, Nico di Angelo, Will Solace, Ella Sibylline, and Juniper Bush. All in order."

Piper scanned the four. They all looked different from the other. The first, Thalia, had jet black hair and bright blue eyes, and was rocking the punk look. The second, Rachel, had curly red hair and green eyes, with more of a chill look as Piper noticed the doodles on her faded jeans. The third was Nico, who had dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, with a skull shirt and aviator jacket. Next Will, with shaggy blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a casual t-shirt and shorts. Then Ella, who had shaggy red hair, coffee-colored eyes, a rounded face (though she was very skinny) and a loose dress. Finally was Juniper who was also very petite, with amber and wispy hair, eyes the color of leaves, and a knee-length white dress with a belt around the middle that resembled a chiton.

"It's nice to meet you all," she said as Rachel, Juniper and Will grinned at her, while Thalia gave a short wave and Nico crossed his arms, averting his eyes. Ella twirled a strand of hair around her finger, obviously nervous, and didn't speak.

"Piper here is going to G.U. with us. It's her first year," Annabeth said as Rachel walked up, the grin still on her face.

"I dunno if anyone's told you but there's no escaping us now."

Piper gave a weak laugh. "Yeah, that's just what Reyna was saying earlier."

Annabeth sighed, shaking her head. "I am so sorry, you're probably completely freaked out by now." Piper also shook her head, indicating it was okay. Honestly, she was fine. But everyone she'd been introduced to were . . . different from what she was used to, she had to admit. But different was good. And she was sure she would have a great college life with them.

"So what were you guys doing?" Will asked as he sauntered over to the table full of scattered newspapers. "Searching for jobs?" He bent over and picked up one newspaper, a huge grin spread across his face. "Hey, Neeks, come here." Nico narrowed his eyes but uncrossed his arms and walked over. Will pointed something out to him and Nico went red, punching him in the arm.

Reyna bent over and smiled lightly. "Annabeth and I suggested that to Piper but she refused."

"I can see why. I am _not_ applying at Hooters, Solace."

Will glanced at the newspaper once more before nodding and throwing it back on the table. "You're right. I want to be the only one to see you half-naked. Actually, I prefer to see you all naked, but-" He was cut off as Nico hit him again, making him double over in laughter.

Piper jumped as Annabeth whispered behind her, "I dunno if I already told you or not, but they're together, Nico and Will. They're always like this- it's how they work. You get used to it after a while."

Piper turned her around and said, "Why does Nico call Will by his last name if they're together?"

"Because he's playing hard-to-get," Will answered instead of Annabeth, Nico huffing and glaring at him. At the glare, Will put his hands up as if in defeat. "I love you?" It sounded like a question but Nico just shook his head and also muttered an "I love you".

Piper smiled, a genuine smile, one that wasn't awkward. She couldn't help but admit they were cute together. Then she cleared her throat and said, "I've gotta go now. I need to buy groceries before the store is closed. I'll see you all later."

She shoved the ad in her jacket pocket and walked out their apartment, waving goodbye to the group.

* * *

"Of course I have to get peanut butter and jelly," she commented to herself as she grabbed both of those items and placed them in her cart. She'd always loved PB&amp;J sandwiches; they were so simple, and she always hated the fancy life her father tried to give her as a child.

Continuing on, she grabbed a few more things. Her small cart was already full, and she didn't really need much, anyway. She didn't eat much, and this would last her for quite a while.

Her thoughts were cut off as she ran into someone else's cart. Her face burned slightly as she muttered a sorry.

"Who do you think you are, running into me like that?" Piper looked up at the demanding voice and saw a tall brunette standing with another tall brunette. Except the demanding one wasn't Asian and didn't have makeup and jewelry on.

Piper glared at her, "I said I was sorry. I was thinking, I didn't mean to run into you."

"Well maybe next time you need to stop thinking and start watching where you're going," the Barbie-fied Asian shot back at her.

Piper grit her teeth. "And maybe you should _start_ thinking, which must be hard for a Barbie like you to do, huh?"

Before she knew it, the demanding, non-Barbie was holding her up by her shirt. "You better watch who you're speaking to. You speak like that to me or my girlfriend again I'll run you into the ground."

"Oh, Clarisse hon, she's really not worth our time," the Asian commented, looking bored though her eyes were alight with anger. The one apparently called Clarisse snarled and set Piper down, removing her hands and wiping them on her clothes like Piper had some disease.

"Fine. You better watch yourself."

Piper grit her teeth as the two left, gripping tightly on the cart as she went and checked her items out, leaving as soon as possible.

* * *

Placing everything where they needed to go, Piper thought back to the two girls she had the unfortune to meet. They were possible the rudest people she had ever met. They were definitely right for each other, though their looks were completely different aside from the height and hair color.

Piper sighed as she finished putting everything up, trudging over to the living room and flopping on the couch. She laid there for what felt like hours with her arm over her eyes, just thinking and breathing. Before she knew it, she was snoring peacefully on the couch.

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys! This one wasn't revised that much, just a few paragraphs and phrases were edited. I hope you liked it, please review, favorite, and follow.**


	4. Out in Town (Part 1)

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus characters. Credit goes to Rick Riordan for that. However, I do own this story, so credit goes to me for that.**

**Warnings: Mild cursing, GirlxGirl, Suggestive Themes.**

* * *

Piper awoke feeling groggy, sitting up halfway before groaning and turning around, faceplanting in the pillow. She stayed that way for what felt like a minute but when she woke up again -when did she fall asleep?- she glanced at her clock and noticed an hour had passed. Since she didn't have anywhere to be, she slowly got out of bed, going through her daily routine. This time she wore two braids, one on each side of her head. She slipped the feather in and stared at her reflection, a small smile crossing her face.

Walking back to her room, she grabbed a few mice that were sealed up in a bag and fed them to Arachne. She didn't dare touch her as she knew the tarantula would attack if you got too close to her while she was eating.

After setting the top back on the cage, she walked to her kitchen, making herself some coffee. As the coffee brewed, she made herself a quick breakfast- oatmeal. She stirred the oatmeal and blew on it to cool it, occasionally glancing back to check on the coffee. The next time she turned, her oatmeal having cooled down significantly, the light blared red. She quickly jumped up and grabbed herself a cup, pouring coffee into it. She didn't add any creamer, sugar, or even milk. Plain black coffee was her favorite; simple and traditional was what she liked, even if she occasionally got something with flavor in it.

Just as she had walked back to the dining table with her coffee, there was a knock on the door. She groaned inwardly but got up, coffee in hand.

Standing patiently behind the door was Reyna, a quirked eyebrow present on her face. "You haven't eaten yet, have you?" She asked as she eyed the coffee.

Piper lowered the cup and shook her head. "Not yet, I've only just made this coffee, but I haven't had a chance to eat yet. Um, why?"

Reyna glanced back up and said, "Because we were all going to go out for breakfast. That is, Annabeth, Thalia, Rachel, Hazel, Jason, Percy, Nico, Will, Frank, Leo, Grover, Tyson, Ella, Juniper, and me."

Piper exhaled loudly, her eyebrows up in surprise. "Imagine a waiter's face when they see all of us," she commented, the corners of Reyna's lips twisting up in a smile.

"That's why we'll be getting three tables with five of us at each one, except Rachel will be the sixth one to whichever table she chooses." Reyna checked her watch then glanced down the hall. "The others are getting ready now. Hazel and Percy are deep sleepers, so it took quite a while to wake them up, and it takes them even longer to get ready. But they should be done in a few minutes. When they are I'll come back and get you." With that she walked off, Piper nodding slightly. She shut the door, walking back over to her oatmeal.

She stared at her oatmeal. "Well it seems I can't eat you today." She felt slightly silly for talking to the grain but she set her cup down and grabbed the bowl, dumping the oatmeal out in the trash. Then she picked her cup up and poured the coffee down the sink, setting the cup in there as well.

She glanced up as another knock resounded through the house. Once again, Reyna was behind the door, but so was everyone else.

"So where are we going?" Piper asked as she grabbed her jacket from the hook, shutting and locking the door.

"Well hello to you, too," Leo greeted her, making her roll her eyes.

"Sorry. Good morning to all of you."

"And we're going to the best, and nearest, cafe in town," Thalia answered her, Piper nodding her head. She had a feeling Emily would be seeing her a lot.

"Great," she replied as they walked down the many flights of steps. As they hiked down the stairs, Piper noticed just how lonely she was. Everyone was talking to each other and all the couples, which was quite a lot, were holding hands and kissing occasionally. She almost felt sick as she observed the loving smiles the couples gave each other. She wasn't sick with disgust, however, but more so of despair as she herself was alone. Maybe that was her fault seeing as she never even tried to get into another relationship, and because she had never been good with conversations.

"Hey there, stranger," a slightly sarcastic voice said, making Piper grin. She turned and there was Annabeth, hands in pockets. "What are you doing, walking around all quiet-like?"

Piper shrugged, not really knowing how to answer the question. "Well I'm not very good with starting or keeping up a conversation so..." She trailed off, making Annabeth nod.

"It's really not that hard. All you have to do is find something in common with a person and then bring that subject up. Eventually that subject will bring you to another topic, and then another, until you're just yapping away. For example, here we are talking about conversations."

Piper laughed, shaking her head. "Well I see your point," she replied as they walked onto the sidewalk, the cafe now just a few blocks away.

They walked in silence before choosing three tables and sitting at them. Piper, Annabeth, Reyna, Hazel, Rachel, and Thalia at one; Percy, Jason, Nico, Will, and Leo at another; and Frank, Tyson, Grover, Juniper, and Ella at the last one. As soon as they all sat down, a waiter came out, paled, and quickly walked back inside. Piper, being the only one to notice, grinned and watched as two more waiters came back out with the first one.

After they had ordered their food and waited for it, Thalia spoke up. "So, are you excited to be going to school... with us as your classmates?" All the girls laughed, excluding Piper and Thalia who both just smiled.

"Yeah, you guys seem awesome. Even though I'm worried about going there with Percy and Jason..." She trailed off as she glanced at the two. So far they hadn't argued once, but Piper was still wary of being seen in public with them. But for the time being she said nothing of it and didn't really show any signs of not wanting to be seen in public with them.

Rachel laughed again. "Yeah, I don't blame you. Though, they don't argue as much in school, mostly because they get in detention when they do and that hurts their grades."

Piper could understand Jason being worried about grades, but the Percy guy didn't seem the type. He seemed the type to enjoy and revel in trouble. The thought must have shown on her face as Reyna said, "Jason cares about his grades and discipline. It's Percy who doesn't care much about either of those things, so really he's the only one getting into detention. Occasionally, Jason is dragged into detention with Percy because of arguments or fights, which is rare."

"Ah," was all Piper said before turning back to the other girls. She smiled at the waiter as a thank you as he brought out their food. She didn't ask for much, just a black coffee and a "cronut" which was apparently a hybrid pastry, a croissant and doughtnut.

Piper sat back in her chair, pushing it out a bit from under the umbrella so she could feel the sun on her skin. She hummed and sipped at her coffee, loving the feeling of the sun on her back. It was a pleasant day; she couldn't really remember having a day this relaxing. She was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

Her sun-bathing was interrupted as she felt something sticky and cold run down the back of her neck and her back. She jumped up, a slight gasp escaping her. "What the-?" She whirled around, facing a smirking Clarisse and her Asian girlfriend. Turning bright red but still trying to uphold some dignity, she stood up straighter.

"Oh, what a _pleasant_ surprise it is, seeing you here." A huge, fake smile was planted on the Asian's face, Piper still not knowing her name but not wanting to.

"I'm sure it is," Piper replied, a tight, thin-lipped smile present on her face.

The Asian's smile turned into a sneer for a moment before she turned to the others. "Oh, of course you're hanging with these losers." Reyna and Thalia growled at that, Thalia jumping up before being pulled back down by Annabeth. Annabeth whispered something to them before she herself stood up.

"Drew, I don't think spilling a drink on our new friend is really necessary. Or calling us losers, that's really immature."

This time Drew actually sneered at her and Clarisse's eyes narrowed. "I'll punch your little blonde face in if you insult my girlfriend one more time."

Annabeth narrowed her own eyes at Clarisse, a slight "hmm" coming out of her. She handed Piper napkins who gratefully took them, dabbing at her neck and muttering to herself. Then Annabeth turned back to Clarisse. "I don't think your girlfriend really cares, seeing as how she's undressing Jason with her eyes."

At that, Drew snapped back to the conversation and Clarisse turned to glare at the blond boy before turning to look at Drew, who had a fake innocent look on her face. "You call us immature, yet there you are lying about my Drew drooling over that teachers pet." She snorted. "Whatever, I'm not gonna stick around here talking to you losers all day, or it might just rub off on me." With that she grabbed Drew's hand and they stalked off, Drew turning back to give both Piper and Annabeth one last stink-eye.

Piper released a breath she wasn't aware she was holding. Annabeth shook her head and said sheepishly, "Sorry you had to meet them. It's inevitable, however, seeing as this is a small town and we all go to the same university."

Piper just gave her a smile, replying, "It's fine. I met them the other day in the supermarket. I kind of bumped into them and we got into a slight . . . _dispute_." She put an emphasis on the word "dispute". Annabeth nodded understandingly.

They both sat back down, Piper having long ago given up on trying to wipe the coffee from her back. Shrugging, she threw the napkins down on the table, sipping what was left of her coffee. "So, what does Goode University have to offer?" She asked as she messed with one of her braids.

Annabeth brightened, pleased with the question, Rachel groaning as the other girls stayed silent. However, a small smile was found on Hazel's face and the hint of a smirk on Reyna's. Thalia stayed indifferent.

"_Well_, G.U. has a lot of things to offer. Many electives and teachers to choose from. Sometimes you can't always choose what teachers you get, but I can help you get who you want. I also have a recommendation on who you should choose, all of them being the teachers I'm choosing for this year. They are the best teachers in the university -don't let the others tell you otherwise- and I will give you a list of them later. Anyway, there are also many electives. Debate, band, drama, choir, the swim team, soccer team, football team, softball slash baseball team, tennis team, volleyball team, the chess club, and many more. This may be a small town but the university is big, big enough to have many teams, clubs, and sports."

Annabeth stopped to breathe and Piper pondered what she had said. She didn't really doubt Annabeth's choices in teachers, so she might go with them. And all of the clubs and teams. . .

"Choir and debate sounds nice. Also volleyball seems nice. I might join those this year, if it's not too late."

Annabeth nodded, excited. "I'm in many of them. Debate, soccer, chess, softball, and volleyball."

Piper was sure her eyes bulged out of their sockets. "Three is a lot, but five? How do you keep track of all of that? And don't the sports usually have games on the same days as the clubs have meetings?"

Annabeth nodded again. "Yes, but I manage it."

"Annabeth is really good with managing things," Hazel commented, making Piper nod. She also didn't doubt that.

Annabeth paused again for a sip of her drink. "I would love having you in debate and volleyball. I'm sure you'd be good at them."

"But not as good as Annie is with debate," Rachel interrupted with a grin.

Piper laughed. She didn't doubt anything about Annabeth. Everything she heard about her, she believed. It all just seemed to be true. She took a bite of her cronut, saying only a few words as Annabeth continued talking about school, the others four girls immersed in conversations of their own.

She caught a snippet of their conversation, hearing:  
"Immortality would be the best thing ever."  
"Not really. It would be depressing to fall in love over and over because all of your lovers would die."  
"Eh, I don't care much for love. I could do without it."  
"Forever?"  
"And ever."

Piper thought about that for a moment but not jumping in as she didn't want Annabeth to know she had tuned out. So she glanced back up at her, a small smile on her face to indicate she was still listening.

* * *

**A/N: Rewriting this is honestly easier than I expected it to be, which means the storyline isn't as great as I hoped it to be after rewriting. But at least I'm getting rid of the plotholes. Please review, favorite, and follow!**


	5. Out in Town (Part 2)

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus characters. Credit goes to Rick Riordan for that. However, I do own this story, so credit goes to me for that.**_

_**Warnings: Mild cursing, GirlxGirl, BoyxBoy, Suggestive Themes.**_

* * *

"This is the biggest, and best, mall here in this little town," Hazel commented as Piper examined the mall. She had already seen this mall but let the girls drag her around and show her everything while the guys did whatever they were doing. Although she'd seen the mall plenty of times, she'd never been in it. She shopped in the small stores around town.

"Are we going in?" Piper asked, turning away from the building to look at Hazel.

"Of course!" Rachel cut in. "We're going shopping, which happens about once every month. Sometimes twice if we have extra money." With that, Rachel dragged her away from the others and into the mall, Piper stumbling a few times in the process.

"Rachel, don't take her arm out!" Reyna called out as the others sprinted to catch up with them. Rachel let go as soon as they were inside and stepped back a couple of feet. A small "oh" came out of Piper as she took in the mall.

It was different from what she expected, especially after seeing the outside. When she stood outside it was quite small, compared to the ones back in California. But it was really nice on the inside, stores on either side. There were stands in the middle of the walkway selling phone cases, coffee, and practically anything other than clothes.

"Nice, right?" Rachel asked as she came back to her side, a grin on her face. Piper just nodded, not really knowing what to say.

Off the girls walked, all talking amongst themselves. Piper heard two new voices and turned. What were those girl's names again? Elma and Jupiter? She whispered that question to Annabeth who seemed to be forcing back a laugh. "It's Ella and Juniper." Piper felt her face heat up. _Elma and Jupiter- really, Piper?_ She thought to herself, swallowing hard to force the embarrassment back. "Hey, don't worry about. I wouldn't have expected you to learn everyone's names so quickly," Annabeth muttered again as she gently nudged Piper with her arm. Piper gave her a grateful smile, before Annabeth stopped her.

"So where do you wanna go?" Piper turned back to see if she was talking to her to find all the other girls had vanished.

Oh.

"Um, I've never been in here before so I'm not sure of any stores that may be in here."

Annabeth nodded, glancing around with her hands on her hips. "Hmm, how about Forever 21? I know you're more of a tomboy, but there's some things you could find in there that fit your style." With that, they walked into Forever 21.

Piper did a twice-over of the place, before deciding it wasn't really her style. All of the clothing was really girly or hipster, and even the faded jeans and combat boots seemed the fashionista type. She turned to Annabeth and shook her head, who nodded.

"Okay," she said as they walked back out, "how about Rue 21?"

Piper let out a small laugh. "Just how many stores is in here with the number 21?"

"Just those two," Annabeth replied, a smile also present on her face. They headed off to the store, stopping occasionally as Piper peeked into other stores and bought a new phone case. As they reached their destination, Piper tilted her head to the side, figuring the store wasn't that bad.

"I think I'm gonna look around here." Annabeth seemed pleased with that response and walked with her, often picking up clothes and commenting on how they would look on her and Piper. With a stack of clothes in their arms, they headed towards the dressing rooms. Annabeth went in first and Piper sat on the bench, her clothes laying in her lap.

Annabeth came out of the stall more times then Piper could count as she varied what would go with what. For example, one of the times that she came out, she had on a blue button-up flannel shirt with black shorts. Another time she came out with those same shorts and a dark red shirt with small owls printed on it, to which they both decided the shorts would go better with the flannel.

Then it was Piper's turn. She meant to have less clothing than Annabeth, but Annabeth piled clothing on her, making her come in and out of the stalls more often than Annabeth did.

"Ooh, that's nice. We could be flannel buddies," Annabeth commented as Piper came out in a dark red and black flannel shirt, capris, and a denim jacket.

Piper laughed, shrugging as she picked at her outfit. "Does it actually look nice?" She asked, to which Annabeth nodded enthusiastically.

* * *

The girls all met up again in the food court, ordering Japanese. As they sat down, they noticed the boys just a table away, making all of them laugh.

"Well, whad'dya know?" Leo said with his signature mischevious grin.

"How is it we didn't cross paths once?" Thalia said in confusion, making the others shrug and mutter unheard phrases.

Deciding it didn't really matter, they all dug into their food, the girls with Japanese and boys with Mexican. They talked amongst themselves about various things, including sports, clothes, school, love, and much more.

"Yeah, I'm trying out for swim team this year-"

"Oh that is going to be so cute on you, Haze-"

". . .not much into that cheesy romance. . ."

"Hopefully we'll get classes together. . ."

"Frank, we both know who's the better archer here-"

Piper mostly listened in like always, but talked to Annabeth a few times. As she was the first one Piper met in the apartments, and she was the one to show her around and help her unpack, Piper felt the most comfortable around her. She already felt a close connection to her and it had only been a few days. She was getting closer with the other girls but at the moment, Annabeth was her closest friend.

She also tried talking to Jason but it just wasn't working. It was much too awkward for both of them, it seemed. And true to what she was told, Jason and Percy seemed to have been behaving themselves. They weren't arguing but had an odd habit of saying cute things then adding "bro".

Hmm.

She mentally shook her head, tilting her head back to get the noodles in her mouth. As she was swallowing, someone nudged her, making her choke slightly. Coughing and wiping her eyes to rid of the tears that formed in her eyes, Piper looked over to see who had nudged her.

"Oh, s-sorry!" came the high-pitched response from a wide-eyed Frank.

Piper shook her head as she took a long gulp from her drink. "No, no, it's fine, don't worry about it." Frank apologized a few more times, making Piper pat his arm. "It's fine, really." She gave him a smile to prove it was fine, to which he relaxed a little more. He muttered a "sorry" once more before turning back to the boys.

* * *

"So, did you have a good time today?" Annabeth asked as they walked back to their apartments.

"Yeah, it was really fun. I never thought shopping could be that much fun," she answered with a grin, making Annabeth smile and shrug.

"I figured you weren't the type to really enjoy shopping, so I tried to make it as enjoyable as possible."

As they walked onto their halls, they all split up, going to their respective rooms. They all said goodbyes to each other, Piper and Annabeth staying in the hall.

"Today really was great, though. And I feel more . . . _comfortable_ around the others, now that I've gotten to spend some time with them. Without you I wouldn't have had the courage to even nod, so thanks," Piper said as she leaned against the wall, gazing at Annabeth.

"I'm glad I could make things easier for you."

They were both silent for a moment, staring at each other for a few minutes before looking away at staring at the floor or ceiling.

"Well, I, uh, guess I'd better get going now," Piper said as she stood up straight.

Annabeth snapped back to Piper. "Oh, yeah, of course. Um, good night."

They exchanged smiles once more before heading off in the other direction, both glancing back to get one last look at each other. As Piper was about to step into her room, she heard Annabeth call out, "See you tomorrow!" and waving. Piper waved once more, grin never leaving her face, then shut the door.

* * *

**A/N: I realize this doesn't have chapter doesn't have much action in it, just a lot of talking, but then again this is one of those "slice of life" type of stories. I hope you enjoyed it, and a review would be nice! Thanks guys for reading, next chapter will be up as soon as possible. You can expect the university in the next one.**


	6. Those Feelings

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus characters. Credit goes to Rick Riordan for that. However, I do own this story, so credit goes to me for that.**_

_**Warnings: Mild cursing, GirlxGirl, BoyxBoy, Suggestive Themes.**_

* * *

A week later, Piper stood in front of Goode University. A week later, and Piper found herself giddy with joy. Just a day before school started, they had received their schedules and compared them. Piper had hardly any classes with the others, but she didn't bother calling G.U. to change her schedule. She was pleased with it.

Piper hoisted the backpack further onto her shoulder and gripped it tightly to prevent it from slipping down. She entered the school and shoved unnecessary books into her locker; she would retrieve them when the appropriate class came around.

Sighing in relief at the drop in weight, Piper headed for her first class. Since she was a bit early, she was the first one in the classroom. The professor wasn't there either, although he was probably running some errand like professors normally did. She set her bag down next to her chair, plopping down in it.

Just as she bent over to grab a book from her bag, she hears footsteps and the creaky sound of someone sitting in a chair. She glanced over and a smile spread across her face as she saw it was Annabeth.

"I expected you to be the first one here," Piper commented, amusement lacing her voice.

Annabeth grinned. "I expected you to be one of the last ones here. Seems we were both wrong."

Piper let out a short laugh, placing her book on the desk and grunting a little at the weight of it. "Yeah, I guess so." She briefly looked up as a few more students walked in, but otherwise kept her head down. She turned to the page they would be working on for that week, laying a few pieces of paper next to the book just in case.

"I like that about you."

Piper quickly turned her head to Annabeth, who was eyeing her, a slightly dazed look in her eyes. Although Annabeth was blonde, and it was stereotyped that blondes were ditzy, she didn't take Annabeth to be that kind of girl. So it was a bit surprising to see her with that look in her eye. "What?"

"I like your punctuality and your preparedness." Annabeth scrunched her nose up, giving Piper a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach.

_Oh god, that was so cute_. Piper blinked, surprise filling her. Where did that come from? Random thoughts like that hardly appeared unless . . . _No_. It had hardly been two weeks. She refused to think of that- she refused to think of Annabeth like that. As she was so wrapped up in her thoughts, she didn't hear anything Annabeth said after "I like your punctuality and preparedness."

"Er, sorry, could you repeat that last part again? I kind of. . . blanked out."

Annabeth laughed, another feeling curling around in Piper's stomach. "I said I didn't like the word 'preparedness', it doesn't sound right to me."

"Oh." Piper inhaled and exhaled deeply, turning back to her book. "Okay."

The rest of the class period was quite uneventful, save for a group of boys scattered across the room who were throwing pencil erasers at one another.

As soon as the bell rung, Piper shot out of her chair, her stuff already packed and gathered, and bolted out of the room.

"Piper?" Annabeth's voice drifted toward Piper. "Piper, what's wrong?"

Piper halted and took a deep breath, placing a tired smile on her face and turned around.

"Nothing, I just needed to get out of that room. Those boys were really irritating and it was really hot." It wasn't a total lie, it just wasn't all of the truth. She wasn't hot, she was actually pretty cold. The professor always had the temperature turned down, claiming to be "hot-natured".

Annabeth frowned, another facial expression that sent a pang to Piper's belly.

_You fucking stop it right now, or I swear to god-_ Piper was brought out of her reverie as a cold hand touched her forehead. She jumped, making Annabeth jump and bring her hand back.

"I think you're sick."

Piper just nodded and swallowed hard. Yeah- she was just sick, that was all. "I think you're right."

Annabeth tilted her head to the side. "Do you need to go to the nurse? She might let you go home, if she doesn't give you a peppermint first." Sarcasm lightly laced her voice.

"No, no, I'm fine. I'll survive." She gave Annabeth a weak smile then turned around and walked to her next class.

* * *

"So how you liking your new classes so far with us in it?" Percy asked as he bit into a slice of pizza, a blue soda next to his plate. Piper didn't even bother wondering how he got a blue soda at the school.

Piper took a sip from her soda, trying to figure out how to answer his question. On one hand she liked it. Her classes were definitely more interesting. On the other hand, she didn't really like it. In a few of her classes she had Annabeth, and while she was happy about that, she hated how she always got a funny feeling whenever Annabeth smiled, frowned, or even _breathed_. It was really starting to irritate Piper.

"Great," she lamely answered. A couple of the others laughed.

"We know, it was hectic. You don't have to sugarcoat it," Thalia said as she pushed her wilted salad around. She shrugged. "Especially when you're dealing with the boys."

"I'm hoping you're not referring to me in this," Nico spoke up, his eyebrows raised. Piper nearly jumped when he spoke; he was so quiet it was like he wasn't even there.

"Or me. I feel I'm pretty calm," Frank responded.

Thalia waved her hand at the two of them. "Yes, you two are alright. But the others-" She shook her head.

Piper bit her lip to force her grin back before taking a bite of her pizza. "Mhm," Piper said with a mouthful of pizza.

"Mhm is right," Reyna said as she took a sip of her juice.

"What are you talking about? I'm sure Piper loved having those classes with me. Am I right?" Leo said, a big crooked grin on his face as he turned to look at Piper.

Piper just nodded, a thin smile on her face. At that moment she resembled a chipmunk as she had taken another big bite of pizza and it was now pushing her cheeks outward. She swallowed, washing it down with soda. Then she said, "The only bad thing is having classes with Hulk and her Asian barbie."

The others started laughing, soda actually squirting out of Percy's nose. This just made everyone laugh harder, Piper included. She laughed and laughed until tears ran down her face and she was struggling to breath. She clutched a stitch in her side, forcing herself to stop laughing and to breathe deeply. After a few minutes everyone finally calmed down. Students around them were staring them down but looked away after their tables stopped laughing so hard.

Piper didn't know what she did to deserve friends like this, but whatever it was, she prayed her thanks to every and any god and goddess that was out there.

* * *

"Did you like your first day at G.U. with all of us?" Annabeth asked as they all walked home together.

"Yeah. It's great every time I'm with you guys," Piper said truthfully. She was always truthful when it came to Annabeth. She doubted she could be anything but, unless it was for Annabeth's own good.

Annabeth laughed. Her laugh started out low and deep in the throat, and got more high-pitched, yet somehow richer, the longer she laughed. Piper loved it. It was better than her own laugh, which was just low and throaty. She despised her own laugh.

"I'm glad that you're happy. It's nice seeing you smile or hearing you laugh."

Piper froze for a moment on the inside, although she kept walking. Was that a confession? She shook her head. Confession? No, not a confession. She made it sound like Annabeth had feelings or something for her. Which was crazy. Annabeth was simply telling her a fact. Yeah. Or at least, that's what Annabeth would say. 'Simply telling you a fact'. Yeah, Piper could just hear it in Annabeth's voice.

As they got to their apartments, they all fished out their keys.

"I think this is going to be a great rest of the year, now that you're finally here with us." With that, a smile, and a wave, Annabeth departed to her apartment.

Piper stood in the middle of the hall feeling light and giddy, biting her lip to keep in the smile that was threatening to break out on her face.

* * *

**A/N: I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I'm getting excited, are you guys? We're finally getting into the romance! Am I moving too fast? Too slow? Please tell me. Anyway, thanks guys for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter.**


	7. The Worst Month (Part 1)

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus characters. Credit goes to Rick Riordan for that. However, I do own this story, so credit goes to me for that.**

**Warnings: Mild cursing, GirlxGirl, Suggestive Themes**

* * *

_What is with this month? _She wondered to herself as she stared in the mirror, closely observing her hair. Was that grey? Or were her eyes, combined with the light in the bathroom, playing tricks on her? She growled in frustration and pulled her hair back in a low bun, a few loose strands in her face. She rubbed at her forehead, already feeling the frown lines coming.

Forcing herself to stop frowning, she exited the bathroom and made her way to feed Arachne. As she watched the tarantula eat, she rested her cheek on the top of the cage, running a finger along the side of it. In just two days she was going out of town to visit her dad. He had called and decided they should get together as they hadn't seen each other in quite a while. Meaning she would be leaving her precious Arachne behind. She decided to leave her as she found no reason in bringing Arachne along with her for just two days. She would be leaving Friday, and wouldn't get back until late Sunday, early Monday.

Tilting her head to the side, she decided she needed someone to watch Arachne while she was gone. But who? Piper continuously ran her index finger alongside the cage as she wondered who she trusted enough to care for Arachne while she was out.

Then it hit her.

Annabeth.

Her face lit up, her body doing the same. Piper stood straight up as she determined that Annabeth should watch Arachne.

Then her face fell again.

Annabeth couldn't do it. She was deathly afraid of spiders, something she had made well-known the first day her and Piper met. But maybe she would make an exception. . .?

Piper stood straight once more, squared her shoulders, and walked out of her room to Annabeth's apartment. She knocked abruptly twice, then stopped and waited for Annabeth to answer.

After a minute of no one answering, she opened the door for herself -wincing slightly at her rude behavior- and looked around.

No one was home.

Her eyebrows met as she once again frowned, until she heard water running. She shook her head at herself; someone was in the shower. She walked to the door and knocked as loud as she could. She waited a moment and the shower turned off.

"Hello? Is that Annabeth in there or Reyna?"

"Annabeth. I'll be out there in a minute."

So Piper scooted back and stood awkwardly, head turned to the side. As the door opened, Piper turned her head and red spread across her face as she saw Annabeth in just a towel. Now this wouldn't bother her if it were one of the other girls, but since it was Annabeth, Piper found herself more embarrassed than she'd ever been before. Except for that time Annabeth had walked in on Piper showering. Awk-ward.

"What is it you need?" Annabeth asked, not unkindly as she adjusted and tightened the towel around her chest to keep it from falling.

Piper cleared her throat. "Um, so I'm going out of town this weekend and I was wondering if you'd maybe watch Arachne for me?"

Annabeth's face contorted faster than Piper imagined was possible. "Arachne? Your . . . pet spider?" She winced. "I don't know about that. Sorry Pipes, but you know, I'm not a big fan of spiders."

"I know, I know, I just don't trust anyone else to watch her." She shrugged, a blush creeping up her neck just as the blush on her face faded.

"That's really sweet, but I honestly don't think I can do it. . ."

Piper quickly shook her head. "No, it's fine, I'll just find some local petsitter or something to watch her. Don't worry about it."

Annabeth bit her lip -_god, does she _have _to do that?_\- and Piper could see indecision flicker across her face. Then determination set in. "I'll do it."

Piper couldn't believe it. "What?"

"I said I'll do it. I'd do anything for you, Piper. Even though I absolutely despise spiders, I'll watch it -_her- _for you."

Piper grinned so wide and she launched herself at Annabeth, both of them tumbling to the ground. She squeezed Annabeth in a hug as a thanks. She just couldn't believe Annabeth would actually watch Arachne for her.

When Piper finally realized they were both on the ground with Annabeth still in a towel, she hastily removed herself from her.

"Sorry," she said with a sheepish grin. "But thank you, really."

Annabeth just nodded as Piper helped her up. "Don't mention it," she said with something of a grimace.

* * *

**3rd Person, Annabeth's P.O.V.**

"You're seriously going to watch that spider while she's gone?"

Annabeth shrugged at the incredulous look on Percy's face. Well, at everyone's face. Once they had found out what she was planning on doing, they all bombarded her with questions and skeptical facial expressions. They all knew of her phobia of spiders, so it was quite a shock when they found out she was "petsitting" Arachne. Annabeth had even surprised herself by saying she would take care of Arachne while Piper was gone.

"I couldn't just say no. When she had that look on her face and said I was the only one she trusted to watch her-"

"She only trusts you?" Hazel asked, appearing hurt at the idea.

"Well, that's what she said," Annabeth said with a shrug. Many of the others had hurt looks on their faces except for Grover, Thalia, Reyna, and Nico. Then again, she knew how well the last three hid their feelings. She knew Grover wouldn't be hurt because him and Piper weren't very close- they hardly talked.

"I just don't believe it." Percy shook his head and took a bite out of his blue doughnut. Annabeth's eyebrows furrowed as she stared at him. _Where on Earth did that doughnut come from? And how is it he always happens to be eating when we speak? _But she held her tongue, figuring the answers didn't really matter.

"Yeah, this is gonna be great," Leo spoke up, his signature grin present on his face. "If you need some diapers, I've got some."

As Annabeth rolled her eyes at him, Reyna raised her eyebrows and turned in his direction. "Why do you have diapers?"

"That's confidential."

The group silenced after that.

* * *

**3rd Person, Piper's P.O.V.**

Piper stared out of the plane window, earbuds in. Just a few hours prior she had bid her temporary goodbye to the others, giving a hug to a few of them. Before she let go of Annabeth, the last person she hugged, she whispered her thanks. And then she set off.

So here she was now, sitting on the plane, listening to music and singing along softly. It was one in the morning, but she couldn't sleep. Many things were on her mind: Arachne, Dad, Annabeth.

_Annabeth._

Why wouldn't she just get out of Piper's head? She'd never thought of a friend this much before. And that's all she was, a friend. Nothing more, nothing less.

She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but just as she was drifting off, her stomach rumbled. Plucking the earbuds from her ears, she placed one hand on her stomach while the other grabbed the pudding cup next to her. A while ago, one of the flight attendants had brought her some food and she ate it all, save for the pudding. Which she would eat now.

She picked up the spoon and opened the pudding, digging in. It was a small cup so it only lasted for a few spoonfuls. Although she wasn't fully satisfied, the pudding helped to calm her stomach.

She put her earbuds back in and sat back, closing her eyes and soon falling asleep.

When she awoke, the plane landed at her destination. She grabbed her luggage and walked as quick as she could down the aisle, ready to get off the plane. It wasn't like she was afraid of them or anything, she just needed some fresh air. She felt suffocated in those tiny spaces.

Searching for her dad as soon as her feet hit the ground, Piper heaved the luggage into her arms. Good thing she didn't have many belongings. Even better that she would need less than she had since she was only staying with him for two days.

Her eyes scanned the crowd before they dropped. What was she thinking? He wouldn't be here, he would probably send Mellie, his secretary. Not that she minded much, she quite liked Mellie. She just wished he would be there himself, although she knew that wouldn't happen. He would attract far too much attention.

Her shoulders drooped in disappointment but she searched for Mellie nonetheless. It was quite hard; Mellie was the type of girl to blend in to her surroundings so it was nearly impossible to find her.

But Mellie found her.

Piper jumped as a voice said behind her, "Right here!"

Piper whirled around and a smile found its way on her face as she saw the petite woman. "Mellie! It's so good to see you." She set her suitcase down and hugged Mellie, pulling back soon after. "Dad's not here, is he?"

Mellie shook her head sympathetically, a sad smile on her face. "Sorry, he's very busy right now. But if it makes you feel better," she added after seeing Piper's downcast face, "he cleared his schedule for the next two days so you'll actually be able to spend time with him and not me."

Piper quickly shook her head. "No, Mellie, I love spending time with you! It's just-"

"You want to spend time with your father, I understand." She nodded then bent down to pick it up. At Piper's protest, she once again shook her head. "I've got it- I'm not as fragile as I look, you know."

* * *

Piper pushed her asparagus around, not much in the mood for it. Tristan, her dad, looked up at her, eating his own asparagus.

"What's wrong, Pipes? Should I have had PB&amp;J's brought out instead?"

Piper let out a small smile but shook her head. "I'm fine, just don't really want asparagus." She realized she sounded slightly whiny, but she'd never been a big fan of asparagus, even though she was vegetarian. But she did appreciate her dad's attempt at having a vegetarian dinner when he himself loved meat.

He nodded then waved his hand at someone. "Could you bring these back and bring out some PB&amp;J's for us?" A young woman came out and picked up their plates and the platters on which sat the asparagus. As they waited, Tristan folded his hands together and directed his direction towards Piper.

"So, have you decided to major, or minor, in anything?"

Piper bit her lip. "Well, I've decided to go into theatrics. I figured I could put my voice to use there, and my acting skills. But I'm also taking classes for business."

He seemed pleased with that. "Ah, going to join the acting career just like your old pop, hmm?" He sat back in his chair. "Well it's no ball game, I'll tell you that. It takes up a lot of your time, and it takes a lot of hard work and determination."

"Yeah, I know. But I'm not going to be in movies or anything. Actually, I was considering Broadway. That way I can use both my singing and acting skills."

He nodded, then thanked the young woman as she brought out a plate of PB&amp;J's. He picked one up and pushed the platter towards Piper, who also picked one up. They took a moment to get a few bites before Tristan spoke up again.

"You got a boyfriend?"

Piper coughed after swallowing, shaking her head wildly. "Um, no, no I don't. I'm not much into dating anymore."

"What about that Jason guy? You two haven't fixed things?"

"No."

"So you're not with anyone at all? Do you like someone? Just a little bit?" He asked, squinting one eye to where just a sliver of his eye showed, his thumb and index finger an inch apart.

Just like she always did when she tried to avoid a question, she took two huge bites out of her sandwich, chewing slowly. How was she going to answer this? She was sure she didn't like anybody, but. . .

_Annabeth._

She groaned internally. Of course she would come to mind. But Piper didn't like her, she couldn't. She wasn't _gay. _She'd always liked boys. Besides, Annabeth wasn't gay either. She was dating Percy, so surely she's straight.

_Yeah but there's more than just two sexualities, Piper. You know this._

And she did. There were so many sexualities, it was unbelievable. So could she possibly be bisexual? Pan? Biromantic heterosexual? Some crazy combination thereof?

She swallowed hard and set her sandwich down before she answered, "Yes. I do like someone. But I'm pretty sure they don't like me back."

That was a lie. She wasn't sure if Annabeth didn't return her feelings. A lot of the things Annabeth did and said made Piper think otherwise. But who said she wasn't just being friendly? There was a big difference between being friendly and flirty. Plus, she was with Percy, and seemed to be very in love with him.

Tristan raised an eyebrow and also set his sandwich down, slowly. " 'They'? They're a girl, aren't they?"

Piper bit the inside of her lip then nodded. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably as she waited for his reaction.

But all she got was a sigh.

"Don't you want children some day?"

His response shocked her. He wasn't disgusted? She knew these days most accepted homosexuality, and it wasn't like she expected him to disown her or something, but she didn't expect the response she got.

"Well, yes, but there's always adoption. And it's not like we're gonna get together and get married anyway. I could end up marrying a guy for all I know."

"Yes, there is adoption but, say you did marry a girl. Wouldn't you want a child with your DNA?"

"Scientists have found a way for women to reproduce asexually. They figured it out years ago," Piper insisted.

Her father sighed once again and shook his head. "I want grandchildren one day. Grandchildren with _my _DNA, Pipes. Are you absolutely positive you like this girl?"

Piper nodded. "Yes, but like I said, it's not like we're gonna get married. She doesn't even like me back."

It was silent for a moment before he got up and walked off. Piper felt tears forming in her eyes and her throat closing up, but she forced the tears away and took a deep breath.

March was such a terrible month.

* * *

**A/N: Well, another chapter! I feel I'm getting back into my groove, I'm not having as much writer's block. And this was such a long chapter, I feel so proud! So as always, thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter.**


	8. The Worst Month (Part 2)

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus characters. Credit goes to Rick Riordan for that. However, I do own this story, so credit goes to me for that.**

**Warnings: Mild cursing, GirlxGirl, Suggestive Themes**

* * *

**Reyna's P.O.V.**

A bloodcurdling scream echoed down the hallway. Many curious heads peeked out of their door but otherwise did nothing to investigate. One dark-haired girl, Reyna, did more than just peek out of her door- she threw it open and ran down the hall, stopping at the door where the scream came from. She yanked the door open and sprinted to the room where she heard deep breaths and slight sobbing.

There, on the bed, stood Annabeth. A sheen of sweat was present on her cherry-red face; her hands were balled up in fists; she was hiccuping slightly, exhaling and inhaling so deeply, Reyna thought she would inhale her organs and exhale them.

"Annabeth! What's wrong, what happened?" Reyna bombarded her with questions, though her voice was even, the worry on her face hardly showing. Even after all these years she still hid her emotions. Just not as much.

Annabeth brought her attention to Reyna instead of the floor, a wild look on her face. She spluttered before shaking her head and trying again. "P-Piper's spider."

That was all it took for Reyna to understand. She nodded and placed her hands on her hips, examining the room. She notice the lid of the cage was on the ground, cracked slightly.

"I was going to feed it those dead mice Piper left when it crawled up my arm. I tried to shake it off but then it jumped on my face, which was when I screamed. I managed to get it off my face. It dropped and ran off somewhere. That's why I'm up here."

Reyna hid her smile as she nodded. "Right. Well I'll search for it. You just stay there."

Reyna set off in search of Arachne. She herself wasn't bothered by spiders. Nothing really got to her. Except ghosts. None of her friends teased her for it; they all believed in them too. She found it strange how all of her friends believed in them, but she didn't think much of it- she was just grateful they didn't tease her about it.

At first Reyna just walked around, but then she dropped to her hands and knees. She peeked under tables and the refrigerator and the television and everywhere. At one point she caught sight of it scuttling away under the couch. She bit her lip as she dropped to her stomach and stretched her hand as far as she could under the couch. She wiggled her fingers a little as she felt around. Her hand touched something wiry, and she knew it was the spider. Without thinking of the consequences, she grabbed the spider -well, as much of it as she could as it was a tarantula and her hand wasn't very big- and pulled it out from under the couch. It squirmed as she turned her palm up, its pincers clicking.

She hoped she didn't make it angry.

She sprinted to Piper's room and set Arachne in her cage next to a dead mouse, bending down and quickly placing the cracked lid on top to keep Arachne from escaping again. Then she turned to Annabeth, who was climbing down from the bed.

"Thanks," she said breathlessly.

"Don't mention it," she replied, to which Annabeth glared at her.

"Definitely not. We are never talking about this again."

"Deal."

* * *

**Piper's P.O.V.**

_I can do this, I can do this. _Piper repeated this over and over in her head as she walked up the long flight of stairs that led to her floor. She didn't even bother with the old, rickety elevator.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she walked on her floor and to her apartment. She fished the keys out of her pocket but then realized Annabeth was probably in there. Pushing on the door, and finding it was unlocked, she entered and set her suitcase next to the door.

"Annabeth?" She called out as she shut the door behind her.

"I'm here," Annabeth replied as she peeked her head out of Piper's kitchen. Piper grinned and half-ran, half-walked to hug her. When they pulled back, Piper noticed how Annabeth's eyes were so grey they shone silver and the light freckles that dotted across Annabeth's nose and the faint tint of pink that naturally painted her cheeks.

Piper let her arms drop, reluctant to do so, and shoved her hands in her pockets. "Are you making something?"

Annabeth nodded, her curls bouncing slightly. "I was just making a sandwich. Would you like one too?" As Piper confirmed she would, they entered the kitchen together. "How was your time with your dad?"

At the question, Piper's stomach roiled uncomfortably. _Terrible _was what she wanted to say. But she didn't. Instead she answered, "Great."

Annabeth's eyebrows flew up but she otherwise said nothing but a slight "hmm", her lips pursed. "Mayonnaise or mustard?"

"Mustard, I don't like mayonnaise."

"I'll remember that." Annabeth's pursed lips finally dropped, a smile replacing it.

Butterflies erupted in her stomach and Piper clenched her hands, angry at how Annabeth could do that to her so easily. She bit on the inside of her lip before blurting, "I need to tell you something."

Annabeth glanced over, a curious look on her face, before she continued making the sandwiches. "Yeah?"

Piper fumbled for the right words. Her nails dug into her palm, imprinting little crescents, little droplets of blood running down her hand. "Well, um, I like you. More than a friend." Piper didn't realize her eyes were shut until she opened them and sneaked a look at Annabeth.

She froze.

Piper cursed herself as she saw Annabeth not moving, just staring at the sandwiches. Finally she turned to look at Piper, an apologetic look present in both her eyes and her face.

"Piper. . ."

Piper quickly turned away, feeling the heat rising up on her cheeks and the tears forming in her eyes. She bit her lip again; what on Earth was she thinking?

"Piper, look at me."

She gulped back the tears and took a deep breath to try and get her constricting throat to open. Then she slowly turned and looked at Annabeth without really looking at her. Her eyes were directed at the floor.

"Piper, you know I'm with Percy," she said, resignation in her voice.

Piper sighed and turned her gaze to the countertop. "I know, I just . . . I just had to tell you. I couldn't keep it in anymore. It was constricted with chains, my feelings for you. I kept trying to deny that I didn't like it but, well, I couldn't do it anymore. I felt like I was going to burst if I didn't tell you."

It was silent for a heartbeat. Then Annabeth said, "Okay, let's not talk about this again. I don't really want this getting around to the others, because then it'll be awkward between all of us."

"Right." Piper nodded, and they sat in silence as they ate their sandwiches, the bread tasting like cardboard.

* * *

Piper couldn't keep the secret.

After Annabeth left, Piper went straight to Hazel. She was really the only one Piper trusted enough to tell.

Hazel folded her legs underneath her and tapped her chin. "Well, this will definitely make things awkward," she decided making Piper roll her eyes.

"Yeah, I kind of figured that out already. But what am I going to do? I thought confessing my feelings would make everything better but it just made it worse. And now I'm going to be awkward around Percy, too."

Hazel nodded. "Yeah. When Leo confessed he liked me, it was awkward between us. Frank started to hate Leo even more than before because he was in the room when Leo confessed. So now it's awkward between all of us, since I'm with Frank. I guess I'm saying I'm kind of useless in helping you. Just do the opposite of what Leo does."

Piper raised an eyebrow. "And that is?"

"Keep your distance, try to give only friendly smiles, and no goo-goo eyes. And by keep your distance, I mean try not to touch. Or at least, no touching her more than you would a friend. No "accidental" brushes of the arms or fingers. If that does happen on accident, resist the temptation to stare into her eyes like on those romance movies. Got it?"

"Got it."

**A/N: Well, here it is! The eighth chapter of OLAI. Haha, that looks like ole. Anyway, I know it's a bit short but I figured something is better than nothing. And I didn't want to not write a chapter for 4 months like I did last time. But, I finally made Piper confess her feelings! What a turn of events. Hope you guys enjoyed, I'll see you in the next chapter.**


	9. Tensed Atmospheres

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus characters. Credit goes to Rick Riordan for that. However, I do own this story, so credit goes to me for that.**

**Warnings: Mild cursing, GirlxGirl, BoyxBoy, Suggestive Themes.**

* * *

**Annabeth's P.O.V.**

"Annabeth, what's wrong?" Reyna inquired, placing a hand on Annabeth's shoulder.

Annabeth jumped, her grip on the book loosening. As the book fell on the table and shut, she whirled around. "What do you mean?" She asked in a nonchalant voice, though both her and Reyna knew Annabeth was anything but nonchalant.

Reyna's hand slid from Annabeth's shoulder to the back of the chair Annabeth was sitting in. Her face remained passive but it was still obvious she was concerned. "Well, not only have you been on the same page of that book for the past ten minutes now, but you've been -what's the word?- _dazed_ for the past two weeks now."

Shaking her head and swiveling back around in the chair, Annabeth picked up the book again, cursing softly as she tried to locate the page she was on. "It's nothing. I've just been thinking about things." Although Annabeth couldn't see it, she knew Reyna was frowning. Any moment now, she would be asking what Annabeth was thinking about.

A moment of silence stretched through them. And then:

"What have you been thinking about?"

Annabeth sighed softly; she hated keeping things from Reyna, but she couldn't tell her what had happened with Piper. She absent-mindedly rubbed the spine of the book, gazing off into the distance, not really focusing on anything. "Piper."

"Piper." It was said as more of a statement than a question. "And what about Piper? I've noticed she's also been a bit distant, lately." Though she didn't ask it, Annabeth could tell Reyna was hinting something might have happened between the two, and was wondering what it was.

"The other day -well, two weeks ago- Piper told me something. _Confessed_ something." Once again it was silent as Reyna waited for Annabeth to continue. Annabeth knew she wasn't supposed to be talking about this but she couldn't keep it from Reyna any longer. "She told me- she told me she liked me."

At the silence of Reyna, Annabeth turned around and gazed up at her. Reyna's eyes were unfocused and her jaw had tensed up slightly, which Annabeth knew meant she was thinking. She waited patiently before Reyna finally came back to reality and turned her attention back to Annabeth.

"Did you remind her that you're with Percy? I mean, you shouldn't really have had to if you did, but did you?"

"Of course I did. To which she then began saying how she knew that but she felt like she would burst if she didn't tell me how she felt." Annabeth shrugged and traced patterns on the table. "I don't know what to do about anything anymore," she sighed.

"Do you like her back?" Annabeth frowned and glanced up at Reyna who had a thoughtful look on her face, eyebrows arched. "What? It's a fair question."

Annabeth tugged at her ponytail, twirling it around her index finger as she thought. ". . . No." At the disbelieving look on Reyna's face, she rolled her eyes. "I don't know, okay? Maybe I do. I just- even if I did like her, I don't want to admit it. Because then that would be admitting that I don't love Percy anymore and then everything would be complicated. Right now, I just want things to be simple."

"You're going to have to eventually admit it. To yourself, Percy, and Piper."

Annabeth sighed. "I know."

* * *

**Piper's P.O.V.**

Chewing on the eraser of a pencil, Piper sat in deep thought. Currently she was hunched over a stack of homework, which wasn't uncommon. Lately she'd been having to do more work as she was constantly spaced out during class, which lost her favor with many of the teachers. She scratched down the answer as it finally came to mind. She was smart, but she wasn't Annabeth.

"God damn it!" She growled and dropped her pencil, resting her head in her hands. Everything seemed to be related to Annabeth and it aggravated Piper to no end, especially since she couldn't have her. She let out a long, aggravated sigh before picking up her pencil again and continuing her work. Not even the soft sound of the indie music floating from the small radio next to her could calm her.

Soon, a knock resounded through the small apartment. Setting her pencil down a bit harsher than intended, Piper stormed to the door. Halfway through, she realized what she was doing and then walked calmly the rest of the way. She was sure shock was present on her face when she opened the door and saw who was behind it.

It was Reyna.

"Hi?" Piper was confused as Reyna never really visited her, not unless the group was going somehow. But she knew all of them had plenty of homework and, unless they were procrastinating, she was sure they weren't going anywhere.

"Hello," Reyna said right back. "May I come in?" Piper stepped aside and watched Reyna closely, trying to figure out her reason for coming. She shut the door and followed Reyna, a bit cautious. "You're doing homework."

"Er, yeah. Well, supposed to be anyway."

"Mhm." Reyna traced the edge of a portrait hung up on Piper's wall. "Higher Love" by James Vincent McMorrow played softly in the background. Piper fidgeted nervously as Reyna examined the room, even though she'd seen it plenty of times before, then sat in a chair by the table. Piper sat back in the chair she had previously been sitting in, moving her homework to the side. "So." Reyna folded her hands together but kept her posture straight, as if she were in a meeting. "I was just recently informed of something."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. But first, is there anything you'd like to tell me?"

Piper's insides froze. She froze. Time seemed to have froze. Her throat dried but her hands began sweating. All she could think of was, _She knows. She _knows_. How could she know?_ Time continued as Reyna reached over, Piper flinching. She calmed down when she saw Reyna turning down the volume on the radio, and Piper held back her protests.

"Well?"

Piper swallowed then said, "No, why do you ask?" Immediately Piper knew that was the wrong thing to say. Although Reyna did nothing to signify something was wrong, her eyes hardened.

"Annabeth told me everything."

"Oh," was all Piper said as her heart dropped into her stomach. _She promised she wouldn't tell anyone, she promised-_ "Um, I guess I can't really explain then, since I'm sure she's explained everything already."

"She has. And she also reminded you her and Percy were together."

Piper nodded, her hand falling to her lap and she tugged on the loose strands of her shorts. "She did." Once again Piper flinched as Reyna leaned forward, lowering her voice to a whisper.

"I can't offer you any advice but I can tell you one thing: Annabeth returns your feelings. She won't admit it to herself, or me, or Percy, or anyone else. But she does. I can tell. She's just afraid things will be complicated if she admits it, so she pushes it back. She pushes all of her feelings for you back into the deepest parts of her being, but eventually she'll burst. I'm telling you this so maybe you can help her out. Get her to admit it, one way or another. It will make things complicated but not as bad as it is now." With that, Reyna stood up and walked out.

Piper sat all alone, a soft unrecognizable melody floating through the tensed atmosphere.

* * *

**A/N: I can't even tell anymore if these are filler chapters or not. They're just chapters. I don't even really have a plot, I'm just kind of going with the flow. But what do you guys think so far? I know, Pipabeth still isn't in the story, even though that's what this whole fanfic is for. But bear with me. I've never liked it when authors rush the romance, so I'm trying to do the opposite. Anyway, I'll see you in the next chapter.**


	10. Just Like Soldiers On A Battlefield

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus characters. Credit goes to Rick Riordan for that. However, I do own this story, so credit goes to me for that.**

**Warnings: Mild cursing, GirlxGirl, Suggestive Themes**

* * *

There was just a week left until November came and yet October was significantly cool. Houses kept their fires going in the fireplace and kids stayed inside to watch television instead of heading outside to kick and stomp the rust-colored leaves. The sixteen, however, did the exact opposite. They pulled their gloves, hat, boots, and jackets on and ran out of their apartment building, dashing towards the town's park instead. Few people were outside and the ones that were found themselves miffed and ruffled as the sixteen rushed past, faces and hair a blur. Loud laughter rang down the quiet, abandoned streets. The young adults playfully shoved each other and joked as they neared the park. Before long, the park was in sight and the fifteen put on a burst of speed to reach it quicker. The two kids that were playing were soon rushed out as their parents caught sight of the gang. A couple slowed down, muttering a quick "excuse me" and moving out of the way of the small family before hurrying to catch up with the others. Out of breath but smiling, all found equipment to play on. Percy, Leo, Tyson, Rachel, and Grover all rushed to the small area where slides and poles were attached; Hazel, Frank, and Juniper to the merry-go-round; Will dragging a reluctant Nico to the see-saws; and Annabeth, Piper, Reyna, Jason, Thalia, and Ella to the swings.

"Woooo!" Leo exclaimed as he used to one hand to swing around the pole, winking at everyone. "One hundred to see me strip; two hundred for a lap dance," he offered as everyone either laughed at him or scrunched up their nose in disgust.

"You wish, Valdez!" Reyna called out from the swings, the ones who heard her laughing or snorting in agreement. "I'd pay you _three hundred _to keep your clothes on!" Leo and Reyna went back and forth at each other until the sassmaster, otherwise known as Perseus Jackson, butt in.

"_Excuse me_, but I think the girls and guys would rather see me strip, yes?" No sooner had he suggested that did he get leaves and dirt thrown in his face by Rachel. He shook his head and then chased after the giggling ginger, spraying more dirt and leaves into the air. Will, Piper, Leo, and Tyson cheered him on as Annabeth called out, "This is a park; keep it PG!" and Thalia nodded along in agreement.

"Who said it couldn't be a nude park?" Percy shot back. "There are plenty of nude beaches so why not have a nude park?" He strode up to Annabeth, gripping each chain and leaning in close. He gave her a kiss so long and passionate it made her face heat up. "We should head to a nude beach one day, Wise Girl," he whispered deviously as he pulled back. At that, Annabeth kneed him in the stomach and pushed him down with her foot as he keeled over, groaning.

"I don't think so," she said with a rare grin. During the whole scene, Piper had looked away, choosing instead to look at Nico and Will on the see-saws. Nico looked to be scolding a smiling Will as Will swung himself down and flung Nico into the air. He leaned up and placed a chaste kiss on Nico's lips before flinging himself into the air.

"They're cute together, aren't they?" Reyna said as she leaned to Piper, also staring at the couple. "It was strange how they got together, actually. Some years ago, they met in this small building, one for teens to hang out. The inside had a dance floor and a game room, and it led outside where kids could bring their skateboards and skate on the ramps, or play basketball, whichever they chose. Well, Nico was one of the ones skating and Will was playing basketball. Will tried to shoot but the ball hit Nico in the head just as he was about to go down the ramps. Long story short, it ended with Will apologizing over and over to a scraped up, grumpy Nico and eventually handing Nico his number." A ghost of a smile played over Reyna's lips. "He'll tell that story to anyone who will listen, and Nico always tries to pull him away when he's telling it."

Piper shook her head, staring at the ground as her boots scuffed against the dirt. It was a cute story, she couldn't deny, but her favorite one was how Hazel and Frank met. The two were the cutest couple she had ever seen; all the others dimmed in comparison to Hazel and Frank. She played with the edges of her sweater, wishing she had a cute story to tell. Wishing she had somebody to hold, or somebody to hold her. The only ones who knew how she felt was Reyna and Thalia. Even Leo had a girl, but she was in another country . . . well, island.

Strange Thalia was, in Piper's eyes. Thalia was the only person she'd ever met that didn't want anybody. There was a specific word for it but Piper didn't remember. It was a-something. Actually, it may have been two words. She'd have to ask later.

Suddenly Piper became well acquainted with the ground.

"What the fu-" She stopped herself, pushing herself off the leaf-scattered ground. She whirled around and came face to face with none other than Santa's elf worker himself- Leo Valdez. "Leo! I'm going to kill you," she promised as she ran after the laughing boy.

* * *

A sodden, slightly disgruntled group of sixteen young adults made their way through the pouring rain. One moment it was a sunny, slightly cloudy day and the next it was a wet hell. No one expected it; the weatherman promised a rainless day and yet, out of nowhere, rain began pouring heavily from the sky like nobody's business.

The gang entered a kid's play place instead, one with bounce houses, slides, and all sorts of other things for kids and teens no older than eighteen. But did that stop the sixteen?

No.

Nothing could stop them.

They paid at the entrance, ignoring the worker's suspicious stare, and placed their shoes in a cubbyhole. You weren't allowed to wear shoes on the slides or anything else. You had to have them off. They also placed their dripping jackets and hats with their shoes. One after the other, they bounded to the play houses, whooping and hollering.

Percy was hounded by kids almost immediately as he jumped in a maze-like area with punching bags and all sorts of other crazy obstacles. Rachel, Grover, and Frank went with him. Meanwhile, Piper, Leo, Thalia, and Will made their way to the slides. Annabeth, Thalia, and Reyna went to order food and drinks as Ella, Tyson, Nico, Hazel, and Juniper went to another maze-like area filled with obstacles that forced you to jump over, or push over, or huddle in.

The day was going perfectly, if you ignored the small matter that was them getting drenched in rain. It was just two in the afternoon but the day was perfect and great and they were once again little kids playing soldiers.

They were, once again, invincible.

Piper jumped up and down in victory as she pushed Leo down the slide; she and the other three watched in glee as he fell face-first and bounded awkwardly down the slide, rolling and falling. When he finally made it to the bottom, she sat at the top and patted the space behind her. "Thalia or Will, one of you get behind me and come down with me."

Will quickly plopped down behind her, resting his legs on either side of her. "Thalia, you come too!" The blue-eyed girl just shook her head. "Thalia!" Will half-pleaded and half-commanded. "Do it!"

After much fussing and a harsh tug on her arm, Thalia relented. She seated herself gingerly behind Will, her legs resting on either side of his as his rested by Piper's. "Ready?" Without waiting for an answer, Piper propelled herself forward, forcing the other two to follow along with her. They bounced down, soon falling over each other. It was a series of elbowing, kneeing, and even headbutting.

Over in the maze area, Percy and Rachel teamed up against Grover and Frank. Percy punched the bags out of the way as Rachel slipped under and tripped Frank who was trying to clear the way for Grover. The first two high-fived each other as they rolled through a hole suspended in mid-air, Percy falling a bit ungracefully. The other pair quickly caught up with the others, until they got stuck again when Frank had to be pulled forcefully through the tight hole. Grover grimaced and groaned in pain as Frank fell on top of him but he was pulled up and they continued rushing after the first pair.

"You can't run forever, Percy!" Grover called out.

"No, but that doesn't mean we can't win this!" Rachel responded.

A small group of kids teamed up with them before long, helping them on their way to victory. Frank and Grover convinced a kid from the group to betray the others and help them instead. The kid agreed and the trio quickly brought down the bigger group of five.

In the other maze, Nico and Hazel hid in a small area together as Ella, Tyson, and Juniper sought them out. Hazel held back a giggle and Nico just had a look of satisfaction on his face; they were two of the smallest ones of the group, Leo being the third and last smallest, and so it would be hard to find them huddled in the area.

"Marco!" Tyson called out, hoping to get one of the two to say "Polo!" out of instinct.

"Polo!" Ella responded, Juniper giggling at her and shaking her head. Ella bent and crawled around as best she could in the tight space of the maze, hoping to find the small ones. Nico pressed his hand against Hazel's mouth as a giggle threatened to rise from her throat.

Tyson let out an "oomph!" when he punched a bag and it vaulted back at him, throwing him against another bag behind him. He bounced off the second bag and fell to the floor, holding his now dizzy head as the two girls giggled and continued on the search for Hazel and Nico.

Fifteen minutes of that had passed before the trio of girls -Annabeth, Reyna, and Thalia- split up and joined the others after ordering their food and drinks.

The building was full of laughter, yells, and even a slipped curse here and there. The group of sixteen formed teams, became traitors, developed plans, and had fun playing as soldiers in the battlefield of slides, bouncy houses, and punching bags.

Soon their number was called out and a sweaty Annabeth made her way to get their food. At the sight and smell of food, all jumped or fell to the ground and scrambled to three separate tables. A kid or two even joined them and the group of sixteen joked with them.

"And where are your parents at?" Hazel questioned one of the kids as she shared her nachos with him. The little boy pointed to where a small cluster of adults sat on a bench and conversed with each other, occasionally casting glances the group's way. His small hand darted out and took another cheese-covered chip.

"They're old and so they probably are gonna want to leave soon," the boy claimed with a mouthful of nachos.

Hazel held in her laugh. "You should go check in with them; they keep looking over here." The boy nodded and jumped from the tall chair, running over to his mom.

At a different table, Annabeth was talking to a girl of about ten. "You like singing?" The girl nodded. "Are you gonna perform for us on the stage over there?" She asked, nodded towards the small stage where kids could go on and do whatever. Some sang, some danced, she'd even seen one kid with a hula hoop just walking around on the stage. The girl shrugged, red spreading across her face. Annabeth nudged her side gently. "Go on. I'll be cheering you on." Pushing her hair behind her ear, the girl slowly stood up and made her way over to the worker in charge of the stage where a computer with a long list of songs in case someone wanted to sing. Annabeth crossed her legs and waited patiently, just barely noticing Piper switching seats with Frank to sit next to her.

"It's amazing how you can inspire someone like that," Piper commented as Annabeth lowered her eyes to the ground, her face also heating up just like the little girl's.

"It wasn't so much inspiring as . . . " she trailed off, not able to find the right word to describe what she had done.

"Perhaps inspire isn't the right word for it but I think it's great how intensely you believe in a person, and how much they believe you and go after what they're searching for." It was probably also her eyes, Piper mused to herself, and not just her words or the tone of her voice. Annabeth had the most intense, determined eyes Piper had ever seen. They drilled into your being and either scared you or inspired you. Sometimes both.

Both girls and a few others of the group watched as the little girl got up on stage, asked for the worker to play a song, and began quietly singing. With each verse her voice grew stronger and louder. At the end of the song, the girls began clapping and Piper leaned close to Annabeth again. "See how proud of herself she looks? That's because you gave her strength and determination. She won't be forgetting about you anytime soon."

Annabeth allowed herself a small, satisfied smile.

* * *

"Annabeth, we need to talk."

Fear gripped at Annabeth's heart when she heard those words like affection bloomed in her stomach when she heard his voice. It wasn't a good comparison, in her mind.

"About what?" She asked as she looked up at him. The day had started off like any other- shower, coffee, brunch. Percy coming over to snuggle up on the couch and watch Netflix, their current activity. It was a great day, until he said those dreaded words.

"You and me." Percy loosened his grip around her waist and sat up, Annabeth mirroring him. "You don't love me like you used to." It was a statement, not a question.

"What do you mean? I do love you."

Percy shook his head, completely serious. "I know, but not like before. It's . . . less, somehow. You're more distracted, more focused on someone else." He worried his lip between his teeth. "I'm worried. And scared. Did I do something wrong?"

Her heart dropped into her stomach like cold metal at the look of his hurt puppy face. She looked away, unable to stare at him any longer, and said, "No, you haven't done anything."

"So then what is it? Are you feelings just fading away?"

"Percy, no, it's not that. I just . . ." How was she going to word it? How could she possible say "I've fallen in love with Piper"? About two days ago, she finally admitted to herself how she felt about Piper. When she finally let it out to Reyna, who smirked at her with such smugness Annabeth almost smacked her, they rounded up the all the girls and went costume shopping for Halloween. Reyna forced Annabeth to get a matching costume with Piper and so now when Halloween came -which was the next day, Annabeth realized as the tension left her muscles- they'd be like a couple.

"You just what?"

"I like someone else," she admitted, slightly ashamed of herself but having enough dignity to look him in the eyes when she said it.

Percy let out a deep sigh. "I knew you were going to say that."

Annabeth's eyebrows knit together as she glared at him. "What do you mean 'you know'?" she demanded as she scooted back from him.

"It's not that hard to tell. And I'm going to assume it's more than just a crush." He stared at the TV as he spoke again. "It's Piper, isn't it?" At her silence, Percy nodded. Neither moved or spoke for five minutes. Then finally: "So we're done then?"

Annabeth slowly relaxed her facial features and also sighed. "I don't know, Percy. I love but I also love her. And I don't know what to do anymore."

"I do. Get with her."

"What?" Annabeth asked, highly confused. Why on Earth would this man who loved her tell her to leave him and get with someone else?

"I said get with her. Eventually your feelings for me will fade completely so you might as well leave now so it won't hurt as much."

"But . . . " Annabeth always won an argument. Always. But staring at his sea-green eyes that held so much sadness in that moment, she couldn't deny him what he wanted. She dropped her voice to a whisper. "I love you. I always will. I swear that to you."

A sad smile found its way to his lips. "I love you too," he murmured. He slowly leaned forward, his body language asking her for permission. She accepted as she quickly closed the distance, pressing her lips to his soft, full ones. Percy knitted his eyebrows together and pressed his eyes closely together to make sure his tears didn't escape.

Slowly they pulled back and Percy opened his eyes, a tear clinging to his lower eyelash, and stood up.

Neither said a word as he dejectedly found his way out and leaving Annabeth alone with her thoughts.

* * *

**A/N: I am so so sorry for the long wait! I've been busy with life, school, and have also been very, _very _lazy. It's finally here and about 1,000 words longer than usual so that's good, right? Also, I realized just how many exclamation marks are in this chapter, oops.**

**Sorry if this chapter was a rollercoaster wreck of emotions for you. I mean one moment it's playful and the next it's depressing? Just what am I doing other than causing you stress?**

**Hope you guys enjoyed either way c: I'll try and get another chapter up soon.**


End file.
